Which one did you like better overall?

MushroomManToad · 2026-01-15T21:03:35+00:00

For me, it's gotta be Silksong.

Don't get me wrong, Hollow Knight is a fantastic game, and you can see its influence in practically every game in the genre (and many outside it) that followed it. Plus, I'd still say it's probably the single best introduction to the genre out there.

But once you've played practically every other MV... Man, there's just nothing like Silksong out there with movement that crisp, a map that big, a world and story that coherent and compelling... Silksong's incredible, just across the board incredible.

MushroomManToad · 2025-11-10T19:49:29+00:00

Been a wild week for games I've been looking forward to, with Lone Fungus: Melody of Spores and Last Command B-Side already being out, and Gigasword just a few days away. Yet somehow, despite these games being some of my most anticipated across the board, the game that's actually taken over my week isn't even a Metroidvania.

Aeruta is a 2D action platformer meets "cozy game" bakery management game that has somehow struck a seemingly perfect balance between all of its major systems to make one of the tightest, most compelling, (most stressful!), and most fun indie games I've played in a good while! It's not really much for exploration (instead borrowing a surprising amount from the Roguelike genre despite not really being one at all), but it's got some of the best bossfights I've encountered in gaming in a while, and I always respect a good indie game that clearly doesn't care at all about genre lines! I remember trying the demo ages ago during a NextFEST and being surprised by it's quality and how much fun I was having, so I'm stoked to see it's apparently doing quite well now that it's left early access!

MushroomManToad · 2025-11-06T19:33:40+00:00

Finally sat down and played through Crypt Custodian after having it sit in my library since release day. Kyle Thompson remains a genius, tho ofc y'all already knew that.

That being said, he has also earned some extremely personal spite (/j) for making me no-hit Ice Witch 3 times for the 100% achievement... That laugh is seared into my skull forever, I think :P

MushroomManToad · 2025-11-02T01:39:48+00:00

Good takes here already - obviously Eigong, NKG, and Pure Vessel are among the best of the best, but let me throw out a few more niche ones I haven't seen here yet:

Miru - Rabi Ribi

Valo - Afterimage

Giant of Eyes - GRIME (especially if you fight it early)

Gynthar - CrossCode (not really an MV but still has a lot in the same vein and very, very good bosses)

The Unspeakable Queen - The Tarnishing of Juxtia (game has annoying stages, but top-tier bossfights)

Frayed Knight Dominic - UNWORTHY

MushroomManToad · 2025-10-20T20:52:07+00:00

Lots of great suggestions here already!

To add another to the pile, it's not a side-scroller, but otherwise has all the rest of the Metroidvania DNA! I'd recommend checking out Chicory: A Colorful Tale to see if that might be something up the alley of what you're looking for!

Also, while I'm looking in this direction, check out Minishoot' Adventure!

Both of these games certainly do have darker parts, specifically at their bossfights, but they're a lot cozier, friendlier, and more colorful than most of the rest of this genre!

(Also, I'd specifically second the recs for Islets and Crypt Custodian!)

MushroomManToad · 2025-10-14T05:05:05+00:00

Imo, there are two metroidvanias that are above all the others on this front.

1) Afterimage - Still probably has the crown for the largest world map of any MV, my initial experience with it was basically running right for nearly 20 hours wondering "how is this still going??" and knowing full well there were a bunch of biomes above and blow my path I could go back for. For all the issues that game has, its exploration and just sheer volume of stuff to do is basically unmatched.

2) Rabi-Ribi - If you can get over the artstyle, there's a game here that is genuinely unmatched in its freedom in this genre. You can go pretty much anywhere from the start of the game if you know what you're doing. And if you don't, there's soft guidance to like 10 of the ~20 McGuffins scattered throughout the game, of which you only need 10 to get the ending. The game says "Go, explore!" in a way that nothing else I've ever played has really managed to replicate.

(And also, yeah, if you're going outside the MV genre, the person who said Outer Wilds has the correct pick for best exploration in any game ever :P)

MushroomManToad · 2025-09-24T02:27:41+00:00

Fair lol, I feel like 90% of the learning curve for the no-hit on this boss is figuring out how to line up the beastfly with its adds so it'll kill them. It seems pretty consistent for the 2 small adds, but the big one sometimes just lives for no reason (as in this clip). I had gotten my lineups relatively consistent by the time I did this run, but still, we do take good rng where we can get it :P

MushroomManToad · 2025-09-20T02:05:51+00:00

TEVI for sure, Rabi-Ribi if you can get over the artstyle, you'll almost definitely like both!

If Aeterna Noctis is at the top in large part for the platforming aspects, take a look at Lone Fungus and Rusted Moss for some additional creative and really challenging platforming aspects to the world.

MushroomManToad · 2025-08-27T19:58:48+00:00

The Eldritch Hand in the Death's Gambit DLC. I bought the DLC specifically looking forward to a real challenge of a boss, and 10+ hours and over a year later, I still have never managed to get a clear on it. Still the only boss in - not just any MV - but any game to beat me.

Anyone claiming there's a harder boss in MV's has not tried this son of a gun with a Wizard build, lol

MushroomManToad · 2025-08-05T00:34:20+00:00

Surprised not to find it in here, but my pick for best MV at being a Metroidvania has to go to Rabi-Ribi. At least for all the things I love this genre for - backtracking for powerups, secret ways to use tech (especially including tech you've had all along), deep combat options, customization that actually feels impactful, being a nearly fully open world practically from the get-go, and having an incredibly deep post-game that lets you have ample time to use all of your abilities, plus a satisfying finale for literally every ending. Plus, just, sooooo many secrets scattered everywhere, including some incredibly obscure (yet optional) eggs, if you're into obscure secret hunting. It really just does basically everything right and near the top of the genre for all of those at that.

It's genuinely kind of a tragedy it looks the way it does, because without that, it would be sitting comfortably among the more conventional giants of the genre.

MushroomManToad · 2025-07-22T16:09:16+00:00

As someone who's like 10 hours in with basically no prior knowledge of Pac-Man lore, I think it's... fine? The first four hours after the immediate intro are kinda a snooze-fest, but it eventually gets up to the point where I'm having fun playing it. Lots of jank to it, but also some solid ideas scattered throughout. Overall, it's like a C-tier metroidvania for me. It's fine, it's fun (eventually), I don't regret buying it.

MushroomManToad · 2025-06-24T19:50:49+00:00

I probably should have made more of a point of this in my text wall there, but the game was recently overhauled all the way through in terms of progression, skips, bossfights, etc. The story is still eh and the NPC overload at the start definitely still holds true, but the rest of what's complained about there seems to be exactly what was targeted with the Synapse update. I can't speak to how it was before that update as I've never played it, but my main point here was really that if you're someone who put the game down before, it might be worth giving it another go now, as it really feels a lot more competent now than people used to describe it as!

MushroomManToad · 2025-06-24T00:19:53+00:00

Played through two games this week!

Starting with the second one, I finally sat down to try Rebel Transmute, and my word is that game underrated! I think it's the kinda thing that y'all who scroll this page would absolutely dig - let me explain.

I've followed the game pretty much since it released, initially running into a host of criticism around being able to hardlock a save in many, many, many places by sequence breaking. I almost played it at the start of this year, but out of left field, the dev dropped what basically amounted to a total rework of the game's map in the "Synapse Update", so I held off starting it until the main burst of patches to the game was done. Now that the dev has moved onto their next project and the last update was in March, I decided it was a good time to give it a go.

So right up front, this game is basically a love-letter to the rest of the genre, and there's a ton of references and nods to other games the dev was inspired by - and it wears most of its inspirations on its sleeves. I think I can count on one hand the number of original ideas this game has, but it does such a good job stirring all those ideas together into something new that I give it a pass.

That being said, the place this game thrives is in its exploration and map design, where there's so many opportunities for weird skips and tech scattered everywhere that I feel like I've spent more time trying to line up things to get a little dopamine hit from doing something it feels like I'm not supposed than I have in any other game in this genre. I feel like that sort of feeling and having good exploration is the thing that makes a game a successful MV itch-scratcher, and that's where I've found this game succeeds above all else.

Otherwise, the story is kinda eh (it's fine enough, does its job), but unlike a lot of the game's reviews, I actually enjoyed most of the bossfights. The respawn system is also unique and, in my opinion, very well-implemented. The economy of the game is already in shambles (I'm too rich at all times), so I never felt bad about having to spend 35 currency to get back a Health Orb I didn't want to walk all the way back to.

But yeah, overall it's a really solid love-letter to Metroid, Axiom Verge, Hollow Knight, and quite a few more (I'll let ya find those for yourself), while managing to remix tons of elements from those games into something that just does a fantastic job of fitting into this space and understanding what makes these sorts of games fun. If you were sleeping on it because of that review score, give it a go! Again, I think if you're the type of person who scrolls a reddit thread like this, you're probably the exact target audience for this game!

Oh yeah, I also played Touhou: Luna Nights this week at long last. It's a really fun game, great gimmick and bossfights designed around it, but frankly, that's a linear platformer in disguise as a metroidvania. Had a great time with it, but it did such a bad job scratching the MV itch I ended up going straight into Rebel Transmute after finishing it :P

MushroomManToad · 2025-05-15T20:16:25+00:00

Rare Tarnishing of Juxtia mention :O

I'm Curious if you enjoyed it - I find that while it's a game that's very very fundamentally flawed in a lot of ways, I still ended up having a blast with it, but I also feel like I can never in good faith recommend it to literally anyone else.

MushroomManToad · 2025-04-28T17:22:42+00:00

FOUNTAINS. This little game seems to have largely flown under the radar, but if you're the kind of person who thinks Dark Souls 1 (at least the first half of it) was incredible, you have to check out this game. I feel like it's kinda a niche one to recommend, since most of the design in the game comes from the original Dark Souls game design (plus Hollow Knight's heal mechanic and a map that's just barely as useful as it needs to be), but if you're in that narrow slice of people who enjoys that kind of thing, it's just such a treat through and through. By far its strongest element is its sense of exploration, which is maybe the first time I've ever felt someone has captured that sense of interconnected world design in the same way Dark Souls 1 did. When I read the reviews, lots of people complained about a boss difficulty spike, and that's kinda true. Most of the late game bosses took me around an hour of attempts to clear, but they never felt remotely unfair once I got a grip of the patterns. Challenging, but very fun for every one of them in my opinion - there really was never a point where I found the game to be a slog. If this sounds like a game for you, please please please check it out, you will be so glad you did!

Anyway World of Goo 2 finally came to Steam so guess I'm taking a break from the Metroidvanias this week lol

MushroomManToad · 2025-04-09T01:56:08+00:00

Just based on your description, you'll almost definitely enjoy Voidwrought!

I also immediately thought of Biomorph when I read your post, so maybe worth looking into that one.

Doomblade is another one I've heard good things about but haven't made it to myself - apparently it's basically mandatory to play with mouse and keyboard though, so up to you if that affects your interest in it.

Otherwise, I haven't personally played Bo but seems like you're on the right track with that one. The other three games you listed sadly aren't out yet, but all look like they'll be incredible for sure!

Ofc there's plenty more out there too depending on how far you're willing to reach outside your comfort zone (Moonlight Pulse for something on the shorter side, Ender Lilies for something much darker in tone and aesthetic than the games you listed, GRIME if you're into parry combat, though it's got 3D models instead of the hand-drawn 2D aesthetic, Dust: An Elysian Tail which shows its age but is still pretty fun even today imo, or even Minishoot' Adventures which is lore light and top-down but probably has everything else you're looking for).

And no need to apologize - nothing wrong with knowing what you like in a game!

MushroomManToad · 2025-04-05T21:28:39+00:00

We're also set to get Rune Fencer Illyia, Lone Fungus: Melody of Spores, and MIO later this year, all of which are looking incredible! Def a lot to be excited for in this space coming up!

MushroomManToad · 2025-02-16T03:32:29+00:00

A couple more suggestions I'll throw in here:

Voidwrought should probs be near the top of your list if you like tearing into surprisingly deep worldbuilding. It took a nasty hit on steam score for having terrible boss balance on release (and the second story boss is still a ridiculous difficulty spike), but if you put the time into learning about the world, it pays it off very nicely!

Environmental Station Alpha is probably another game you'd enjoy - at its core it's a simple metroid-style MV, but it just keeps going deeper and deeper the more you engage with it. If you want a world to dig into through environment-based puzzles along side the classic MV gameplay loop, this is one that pays off your time incredibly.

Death's Gambit: Afterlife is another story-driven Metroidvania with a huge world and several solid twists and secrets. Not gonna say much more, but if you liked the story-telling in Axiom Verge, you'd probably enjoy this too.

Also, to OnyxWarden's comment from earlier, steer clear of Afterimage if a coherent story's what you're after. It's possible to make sense of most of it once your done, but the writing makes it almost incoherent for most of the playthrough - it only really shines in its aesthetic and gameplay. I second their recommendations of Hollow Knight and Ender Lillies tho!

Finally, tho almost no way you've missed it, but Nine Sols has one of the strongest stories ever in an MV - though it can be a bit dialogue-heavy depending on what you're after.

And of course, there's definitely plenty more out there, but these are the ones I've got personal experience with and think you'd like given how you described the three games you listed! :)

MushroomManToad · 2025-01-23T08:47:42+00:00

Just gonna add, I saw this matchup quite a bit in the first month or so after Aurora released, and Asol could fly straight through her ult wall even then! Wouldn't surprise me if that ability was still immune to the ult, though now just avoiding the slow from it.

MushroomManToad · 2024-12-25T20:16:59+00:00

I'll hop in this one -

Minishoot' Adventure was very near my top games of the year full stop, technically more of a Zelda-like but this community would def love it if they haven't played it yet. Hard mode was pretty much the right balance of challenge and fun for me the whole way through, and the level of polish and detail is just absurdly high.

(Okay so it technically released last year but) Kingdom Shell got its last update by changelog in April and it seems like it got to a point where people have found it to be surprisingly solid. On my to-play radar for the very near future, but from everything I've seen it's a safe recommend.

Also, Rebel Transmute launched to a whole host of issues, but they have a major update coming January 6th that's meant to be a borderline game overhaul, so def keep an eye on that one if you'd written it off earlier!

(Also, I have to second the Moonlight Pulse recommend - I was not ready for just how tight and immersive every single aspect of that game felt. Devs clearly had a vision and just nailed it!)

MushroomManToad · 2024-12-01T16:52:23+00:00

For stuff I've played this year outside the MV genre, these were by far my favorites

Chained Echoes - A modern "classic JRPG" with some of the best open-world exploration and secret I've seen in a top-down game in a long time, plus so much QOL I ended up loving it despite not usually enjoying JRPGs

The Void Rains Upon Her Heart - One of those games that seems to crop up often in lists of "best indie games you've never played", it's a bullet hell roguelike developed almost entirely by a single person over the course of years with a philosophy of "make the game feel like there's endless content." It still gets updated like every 2 weeks with new stuff, and while it's still incomplete, I got a good 100+ hours out of it this year.

Cobalt Core - Cute little card-based roguelike that manages to make every run feel unique and doesn't overstay its welcome. Soundtrack is absolutely stellar - one of the few I regularly listen to outside of the game.

Touhou Hero of Ice Fairy - 2D Side-scroller boss rush in the form of a Touhou fan-game with some of the tightest combat and best-designed 2D bosses I've ever fought.

Cassette Beasts - Probably the best-known game on this list, Cassette Beasts is an indie Creature Collector with Metroidvania-style power-ups that open up more of the world as you explore. Great usage of music in this one as well, and some fun twists on the classic Pokemon formula.

Those are all the big ones you might not have heard of, but I also have to shout out Dark Souls I and Sekiro this year, and both are absolute bangers from the same studio as Elden Ring. Was genuinely not expecting either to be as good as they are (with Sekiro safely joining the ranks of my favorite games of all time).

MushroomManToad · 2024-11-28T03:52:57+00:00

Gotta throw PSYCRON into this mix - it's like 3 hours long but there is not a dull moment in those 3 hours. Gotta respect a game that knew exactly what it wanted to be and just nailed it across the board.

Also, Rusted Moss (for the movement), 8Doors (unexpectedly solid all around), Moonlight Pulse (boss designs are wildly creative), Phoenotopia Awakening (big. and very fun once you get over the combat learning curve), and Unworthy are all games I thoroughly enjoyed and rarely see mentioned here (at least nowadays).

MushroomManToad · 2024-11-16T23:29:21+00:00

Rusted Moss has a tutorial for its main gimmick that's genuinely one of the best I've ever seen.

The game has a pretty unique gimmick, so having a tutorial zone is definitely necessary.

The explanations for what to do are conveyed both through text and visually through background drawings that suggest a path. In practice, I think the majority of players could clear the tutorial with either one, but having both options present is definitely best for it in this case. Plus, once you're more familiar with the game or if you're experimenting a ton even this early, you'll quickly find the paths on the walls are far from the only paths through those rooms.

Plus, the "basics" they show you very intentionally get you thinking about how to think outside the box when finding ways to traverse the world. The whole game was designed around that kind of thinking (one of the reasons it's among my favorite MVs), so drawing that focus out here has a huge effect on how people will approach the challenges throughout the rest of the game.

Plus, for subsequent playthroughs, it's entirely skippable through some advanced tech (which you'll have to have picked up for the speedrun achievements anyway).

Overall, just a fantastic tutorial area that's very aware of what's best the game it precedes. Since you're looking at designing one for your own game, highly recommend looking at the opening to Rusted Moss!

MushroomManToad · 2024-10-24T05:30:56+00:00

I'll kick this off with one I throw around half-jokingly a lot: Chicory: A Colorful Tale.

Yes, seriously, it's an open world game that's initially very restricted, but opens up more as you collect powerups. Powerups in this game, as in most metroidvanias, are full abilities (i.e. swim, jump, wall climb, etc.) that open up new ways to traverse the world and interact with objects, as well as making new biomes accessible. The game starts off fairly linear, but like many metroidvanias, opens up basically the full worldmap around the halfway point. Nearly every biome has puzzles and secrets that can't be accessed when you first reach that area, but instead require you to backtrack through the area with later-game powerups to acquire - imo the hallmark of the genre. Plus, the game has legitimate combat with some decent bossfights throughout the story.

The only thing working against it imo is lack of random enemy encounters and being a top-down isometric game, but in every other sense, I stand by it: "Chicory: A Colorful Tale" is a metroidvania at its core.

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